Fans of the show are the likeliest audience for Dexter. They go into the game with plenty of extra cargo, such as three seasons worth of memories and bloodlust to see the upcoming fourth season. They know these characters. They know these cases. They know how it all turns out for the charming forensics analyst that moonlights as a cold-blooded, but "honorable" serial killer. But that doesn't suppress the anticipation of helping Dexter slink up behind a victim and bring him down. That doesn't eliminate the tension of the conversations Dexter has with his prey before they meet their deserved end. And that's a testament to the design of the game; the path from A to Z is still enjoyable, despite familiarity with B through Y.
But for those that do not subscribe to Showtime and don't know Dexter from Adam, the game serves as a nasty-hearted descent into the lives of some appealing but wonderfully flawed characters. Dexter's dual lives are something that must be kept in balance. The effort to maintain "the mask" is an engaging idea that puts a fun spin on the entire quest. See, Dexter is able to keep his diabolical side (called the Dark Passenger) in check -- but only with your help. The meaner Dexter becomes in his kills, the more he takes undue pleasure in the blood, the darker his sense of humor when questioning people, the more his carefully-assembled façade crumbles. This makes life in the real world, such as his job with the Miami police, a bit harder. People starts suspecting him of something -- people such as Doakes, who has such a nose for killers that his spider sense about Dexter starts tingling early on. Dexter must keep Doakes at arm's length, which provides the game with a dose of cat-and-mouse outside the stealth sequences when Dexter is indulging the Dark Passenger. This relationship is a big part of the show and it is great to see it get attention in the game, too, such as in the "Coke Head" Murders case.
The cases in Dexter are taken straight from the show. Mercifully, none of them are carbon copies of the previous. You begin the game with something of a tutorial kill, sneaking up on a choir teacher named Donovan that has been killing children. (Killing kids is a major no-no according to Dexter's code.) However, before grabbing Donovan, you must prove he is indeed guilty. Digging up graves in a park provides the evidence. After discovering enough bodies, you then must track Donovan at a gazebo. Dexter must stealthily track Donovan by hiding behind bushes and ducking down when Donovan looks around to avoid detection. Watch the corners of the screen shift from orange to red to see if you are close to being spotted. Once Donovan has been snared, he's yarded back to the park and tied down on a table in Dexter's kill room. Finally, before sending Donovan to the place child-killers go, Dexter must interrogate him. The death blow are administered by matching on-screen patterns. (Sadly, the actual stabbing with the iPhone has been taken out. Perhaps that was a hair too grisly for Apple.)
The second case, Dear Dexter, delves into Dexter's life as an analyst. The change of pace is fantastic. The balance between police work and serial killer is well done. I enjoyed getting into conversations with people and playing with the branching dialog. Dexter has three options to each dialog choice. One is safe and restores Dexter's mask. The cold-hearted line increases Dexter's Dark Passenger rating, but sometimes gives him extra evidence or clues he might not have gotten otherwise. (Is also leads to some juicy dialog.) The neutral comment lets you play it safe, affecting neither rating. These conversations are very well done and sold by the excellent voice acting of Michael C. Hall, who plays Dexter in the television show.
As you dig deeper into the five cases, you not only talk to a lot of people, but you also cover a lot of ground in Miami. You bounce between crime scenes, Dexter's apartment, and the police station. There is stuff to do everywhere, from the innocent task of giving a donut to a sympathetic cop to emptying a murderer's trunk at a construction site. There is a lot to do in this game -- a seasoned player will definitely get several hours of play out of the game. The journal system in the game is very useful for keeping track of everything, such as how much evidence still needs to be recovered to complete a case.
Throughout the cases, you will engage in a series of mini-games, from breaking into a computer to breaking open crabs on a date. These are a mixed bag. My favorite, by far, was the blood spatter game where you must attempt to recreate the patterns found at crime scenes to determine not only the killing instrument, but also the angle of attack. In addition to the minigames played during cases, Dexter can also stop into the station and work on evidence from other cases that are not part of the story. Successfully completing these minigames is a good way to repair the mask and make Dexter a little more socially acceptable to the people he must interact with in Miami.
Dexter controls pretty well. The game uses a pair of virtual sticks for its default controls and I had little problem using those to move and look around. Sometimes it felt easier to just use my finger on the screen to adjust Dexter's eye line, but the look stick works, too. When Dexter encounters something he can pick up or use, contextual buttons appear.
Visually, the game approaches PlayStation 2-quality. The Dexter model is well made. The scenery is nicely assembled and the texture work is strong. The main characters are all recognizable, as are many locations such as the department, the ITK hotel, and Dexter's apartment.
Dexter was reviewed with version 1.0.
Verdict
The iPhone needs more mature-themed games like Dexter to keep broadening its appeal. (I guarantee you, this is the first time you’ve seen a dead child laying in a shallow grave in an iPhone title.) The stealth, blood spatter, and grotesquely clam pre-kill conversations are all appropriately creepy. The police work is a great way to offset the violence. It helps create a complete universe for Dexter to live in instead of just devolving into a manic killing spree. Fans of the show will have a great time with this game. However, I hope its audience doesn’t stop there. Hardcore gamers looking for something a little more dastardly for the iPhone that offers some traditional videogame thrills -- such as stealth -- should also give it a download.
